


Clad in the Roar of the Scattered Light

by GilgaNyan (NarryEm)



Series: Viktuuri Week 2017 by EmilyY [2]
Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Historical, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Drabble, Ficlet, M/M, Victuuri Week 2017, angst if you squint at it too, fluff if you squint at it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-08
Updated: 2017-02-08
Packaged: 2018-09-22 21:30:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,604
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9626123
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NarryEm/pseuds/GilgaNyan
Summary: The year is 1939. Katsuki Yuuri knows that he does not have long before the soldiers come to draft him.  He doesn’t want to join the war, much less against his will.  What should he do?





	

**Author's Note:**

> Title from “Dareka umi wo” by Aimers (translations from Anime Lyrics)
> 
> Massive thanks to [Min](http://www.noir-wing.tumblr.com) for helping me work out the finer details of this AU ^♡^

 

Yuuri takes a deep breath.  He can do this.  It’s either this or . . . well, he prefers to not think about the alternative.  There is no guarantee that he will be safe wherever he ends up but all he wants right now is to escape the war.  He can’t even begin to fathom why the military would want someone like him to join the war in the first place.

There are no guards posted by the planes.  One would assume that the government would take better care of their military vehicles; alas, no, they have left the planes in plain sight.  Yuuri has stolen a few of the keys and he can only pray that one of them will work for the cargo plane that he plans on stealing.

“C’mon, c’mon,” Yuuri mutters as he goes through the keys.  The gods must be with him as the fourth key turns with a noticeably loud click.  He opens the door in haste and starts the engine.  

Despite the loud sounds of a plane about to take off, he still cannot spot any soldiers rushing up to stop him.  They do, however, discover his little getaway when he is several metres off the ground.  His heart is in his throat as a few bullets ricochet off the bottom of the plane.  Luckily, they miss all the important parts, allowing Yuuri to fly away.

He heads northwest.  He is aware of the fact that the Russians may have a radar set up all over their airspace but it’s a risk worth taking.  He may be able to escape them if he stays below the typical altitude at which the radar network is set up.  

By sheer luck, Yuuri manages to fly over Russia without being struck down.  He is starting to feel more confident about his escape plan.  His only regret is the fact that he had to leave his family behind.  He shakes his head.  They will be fine.  His dad should be exempt from drafting and his mother and sister should be safe, too.  

“They’ll be fine,” he mutters to himself.  “I’ll be fine, too.  I will let them know that I’m safe and sound once I settle down.”

He doesn’t get the chance to wonder where he will settle down, though.  The controls indicate some type of malfunction in the engines and he is losing altitude rather quickly.  Through the cockpit windows, Yuuri can see that the outside landscape is covered in snow.  Perhaps the cold caused an engine malfunction.  He frantically looks around for a parachute.   Thankfully, he sees a worn-down parachute crammed under the co-pilot seat.  He puts it on since he has no other choice.  

Panic starts to creep into his heart as he struggles to open the door.  Has the door frozen solid?  He takes as many steps as he can and sprints up towards the door, hurling his full body weight against the door.  The door does open this time.  However, his body is flung out tens of metres away from a tall tree.  The plane must have been losing altitude much quicker than Yuuri’s initial estimates.  He opens up the parachute and manages to miss the tree.  

More and more of the icy chill from his surroundings seep into his clothes and body as he floats down towards the ground.  By the time his feet land on solid ground blanketed by snow, he feels as though his body has turned into a block of ice.

“K-k-keep moving,” he tells himself through his chattering teeth.  “You’ll di-die if you stop moving.”

Each step he takes requires tremendous effort.  His limbs ache from the cold and he can’t feel them.  More than once, he loses his footing and falls onto the cold, hard ground.  And every time he falls, the snow that clings to his body exacerbates the sensation that he is slowly and steadily freezing to death.

He doesn’t know how long he has been wondering when he falls down again for the umpteenth time.  Only this time, he hasn’t got the strength left in him to get back on his feet.  He is too cold and it hurts physically to even think about getting back on his feet.  He rolls over to his back, staring blankly up at the grey skies.

“I-I-I’m so-s-sorry, da-dad, mom, Ma-Mari ne-ee-s-san,” Yuuri mumbles.  He lets his head fall to the side.  Maybe he is hallucinating, but he swears that he can see a small building in the distance.

Yuuri pushes himself up to his hands and knees.  There isn’t much snow on the patch of ground in between him and the building so he doesn’t have to stand up and walk to confirm his suspicions.  Even crawling sends shocks of pain throughout his body but he refuses to give up so easily.  He won’t let go of the small spark of hope until it proves to be false.

His legs give out after a minute or so.  He grits his teeth and pulls himself forwards with his numb hands.  When he arrives at the doorsteps, he pats the wooden surface to confirm that it’s real.  

“H-help,” he calls out in English.  “Plea-lease.  I n-need help.”

He doesn’t hear any response.  He raises his hand to knock on the door.  Except, he can’t knock on the door anymore.  The door swings open, revealing a pair of boot-covered feet and a pair of an animal’s feet.  

Before Yuuri can lift his head up, however, darkness encroaches on the edges of his vision.  Oh.  So this is what death feels like.  He can’t feel his body anymore but he can vaguely hear a man’s voice calling out to him.  The man’s voice is the last thing that he hears before his consciousness gives out completely.

  
  


-

  
  


Yuuri comes around to the crackling sounds of a fireplace.  He is covered by a mound of animal hides. To his utmost embarrassment, he discovers that he is naked underneath the hides.  He clutches a hide to his body as he sits up and examines his surroundings.

He is sitting on a rug (also made out of a shaggy-furred animal hide) and he seems to be inside a small residential building mostly made of wood.  Something whimpers in the pile of hides on top of him and to Yuuri’s surprise and delight, a greyish brown dog pokes his head out from the pile.  

“Good boy,” Yuuri intones, holding out a loose fist for the dog to sniff.  His voice is gruff from disuse and his cheeks feel numb, too.  The dog barks and knocks Yuuri over to his back.  His tail wags happily as he licks at Yuuri’s face.

“Makkachin,” a man calls out.  The dog stops licking Yuuri’s face immediately.  He sits still atop Yuuri’s torso.

Yuuri slowly turns around to face the man.  The man was silvery grey hair and blue eyes but he doesn’t seem to be a day over thirty years old.  Yuuri stiffens up.  Is this man a Westerner soldier?  Will he be taken to their headquarters and interrogated?

The man smiles.  He says something in a language that Yuuri does not recognise.  The man looks disheartened for a second but he recovers quickly.

“Makkachin,” the man says again, clapping his hands on his thighs.  The dog doesn’t obey the orders from the man, however.  Instead, he whines and settles down next to Yuuri.  The warmth radiating from Makkachin helps calm down Yuuri.

The man laughs.  He points to himself and enunciates: “Viktor.”

Yuuri nods.  It takes a while for Yuuri to remember that it was rude of him not to tell Viktor his own name.

Yuuri points to himself and utters: “Yuuri.”

Viktor nods.  He points at Yuuri.  “Lost?” he asks in English.

Yuuri nods again.  He bows his head as he says, “Thank you.”

The corner of Viktor’s mouth twists up.  “Not problem.  Stay.  Cabin is safe.”

Is it really?  What if Viktor is a Russian soldier.  Yuuri cannot be entirely certain that Viktor will not sell him out to the Russian officials.  When he hesitates to give his answer, Makkachin sees it as his chance to beg to play with Yuuri again.  Yuuri can’t help but chuckle as he pets Makkachin on the head.

“I will stay.  Thank you,” Yuuri replies.  A person who is presumably an animal lover cannot be a bad person inside, right?

Viktor’s mouth stretches out into a warm, hearty-shaped smile.  “Yay!  Come.  Food at table.  Hot stew will keep you warm.”

Yuuri nods.  Now that Viktor has reminded him, he is starving.  He gently slides Makkachin off his lap and pushes himself up.  He can’t even stand up as his knees buckle and his legs give out underneath his weight.  He ends up in a kneeling position and humiliation burns hot in his veins.  

“Help?” Viktor asks, walking up to him.  “You sleep four nights.  I worried.”

“Th-thank you,” Yuuri grits out.  He lets VIktor wrap one arm around his back while the other hand propping up Yuuri’s body from under Yuuri’s armpit.  

Yuuri curses his luck as the hide falls from his hands.  He doesn’t even have the energy to be embarrassed about the fact that he is skyclad in front of a stranger.  Viktor doesn’t say anything; he picks up a different animal hide from the pile, which turns out to be a pair of loose-fitting trousers.  Yuuri thanks Viktor again as he dons it.  It’s tight around his hips but it will do.

As Viktor guides Yuuri to the dining table at a snail’s pace, he prays that things won’t get any worse than this.


End file.
